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As Bus W
pulls up to Granville Towers bearing the first load of Tuesday evening's
campers from Roy Williams Basketball Camp, it's easy to tell it's been a busy
day.

When the
doors swing open, some campers look exhausted. Others look jubilant--perhaps the
product of a mid-day sugar rush trip to Ken's Quickie Mart. A few look a little
homesick.

But the
first person off the bus looks absolutely thrilled. That's J.P. Tokoto, and he's
just spent approximately two hours refereeing camp basketball games involving
third graders and fourth graders. It doesn't sound like an especially glamorous
assignment, but Tokoto seems to revel in it, even adding a little extra flair
to a charge call at one point.

Officially,
the camp day is over. As a counselor, Tokoto's day is finished. He has the
evening to do whatever he wants--and, apparently, what he wants is to hang out
with the campers some more, joking with them and just generally hanging out
while they marvel that a real life Carolina basketball player is one of their newest
friends.

It's just
the latest part of a busy offseason for the rising sophomore. On Monday
afternoon, he'd met with the media while still wiping away sweat from an
intense shooting workout with assistant coach Hubert Davis. As a freshman,
Tokoto felt he drifted too much towards standstill jump shooting, and shot
48.8% from the field but just 9.1% from the three-point line and 38.5% from the
free throw line. This summer, he's focusing on his off-the-dribble and midrange
game, an area he says was a strength of his in high school.

He's also
made a technical adjustment to his shot.

"During the
season, (Coach Davis) would see my elbow come out, like a chicken wing,
almost," Tokoto says. "Now I'm trying to lock it into position and I'm seeing
tremendous results."

This
particular diagnosis should sound familiar. Raymond Felton shot 35.8% from the
three-point line as a freshman, but improved to 44 percent as a junior after
undergoing a similar shooting makeover. That's not to say Tokoto will instantly
turn into a perimeter sharpshooter, but there's room for improvement if he
adapts to the changes in his form.

Some of the
other changes aren't quite as technical. Specifically, Tokoto hopes to play a
larger role than the 8.6 minutes per game he saw as a freshman. When asked to
evaluate his freshman campaign, he speaks for a full two minutes--that's a
lengthy answer for any college freshman, but especially in a press
conference-type environment--and identifies one key area he needs to improve.

"I kind of
doubted myself...during the season, it was the mental part that held me back, not
so much the physical," he says.

Some of
those doubts were created by fluctuating playing time. Tokoto, who Roy Williams
said has the potential to be the best offensive rebounder he's ever coached,
saw his minutes surge at midseason, playing three straight double-digit minute
games in a stretch that included matchups against Georgia Tech, NC State and
Boston College. But he had just one double-digit minute game in the final 15
contests of the season, caught in a playing time logjam on the wing.

After
spending much of last season at 193 pounds, Tokoto weighs 201 now and hopes
he's on the way to 210. That should help him endure the pounding of a full ACC
season, one that he hopes will include longer, more consistent minutes. He
acknowledges he'll need to change his mindset to be a solid rotation
contributor.

"Last year,
I was thinking, 'I may not be in here long, so let me try to get one highlight
play at least,'" he says with a grin.

Of course,
those highlight plays--he memorably jumped over Joel James for an open practice
dunk in Kansas City during the NCAA Tournament--are a big part of what endear
him to those dozens of campers outside Granville Towers. They won't be his only
younger fans this summer, however.

Just as he
did last summer, when he returns to Wisconsin in July, Tokoto plans to help
coach his younger brother's basketball team, the Wisconsin Shooters. Last year,
he enlisted James to help him; pity the opposing coach of an 11-year-old
basketball team who saw his confidence instantly melt away when confronted with
Tokoto and James on the opposing sideline.

Until then,
though, Tokoto still has plenty of business in Chapel Hill. He'll play in the
current-vs-former player camp games in both sessions of Roy Williams Basketball
Camp, have regular workouts with Davis and with strength coach Jonas
Sahratian, and attend summer classes.

Right now,
though? He's busy officiating a basketball game between fourth graders. "Come
on, J.P., that was a foul!" one kid tells him.

Tokoto
narrows his eyes. He has clearly been on the receiving end of this look from a few officials. "Come on, man," he says, and there's that smile again. "That wasn't a
foul. You go play."